Another Friday, another 'youth' film, another launch vehicle for chocolaty debutants, and yet another snooze-fest of a movie. Always Kabhi Kabhi is so self-conscious in trying to be ˜cool™ and ˜youth-oriented™, the new buzzwords for producers these days, that it fails to connect at any level, whether it™s the vapid attempt at humour, the various social messages (for parents only), or the non-existent moments of drama.A story of four kids and many extras in a college, AKK attempts to capture the ubiquitous problems of teenagers occasionally using Shakespeare as reinforcement. A geek is pressured by his family™s tradition of going to MIT, an NRI lass is forced into stardom, a rebel girl™s parents are always in a meeting (always!), and the hero is hankered by cops for being stoned.I maybe off the ball here. Generation gaps have been redefined in the 21st century. Earlier your parents were a generation away. Now they™re equated with the inhabitants of Jurassic Park: around but ancient. Always Kabhi Kabhi™s ˜issues™ have been seen before and offers nothing new.

From academic pressure and 'I want to live my own dream, not my father's' angst (handled so much more maturely in 3 Idiots) to putting up a stage show to get the message across in the climax (executed way better in a film like FALTU).The crux isn™t the only unoriginal idea most sequences you™ve seen before: an introduction song set on campus (Main Hoon Naa), a fight causes an accident leading to template hospital scenes (Saathiya), and the headstrong rebel female lead who falls for the geek (Break ke Baad). As you can tell, Always Kabhi Kabhi is an inspired film.One is not sure who the intended audience of AKK is. The message is targeted squarely at evil parents (high expectations, no time for their kids, don™t want to hear their side of the story) but the grammar is SMS-like. Does Roshan Abbas expect kids to see it first and then drag their parents to watch it? Ambitious.The kids text nonstop and converse so quickly it™s hard to follow dialogue at times. This is realistic I suppose, because only teens understand teens, but when the dialogue lays itself bare in moments of high-drama (not!), it exposes the poor writing that marks the film.The only pluses? Use of a social networking site as transitions to move the story ahead and a single shot of Nandini (the bullheaded one) expressing herself with a lipstick that captures her character.
Of the performances, Satyajit Dubey is underwhelming and effeminate, Giselli Monteiro looks fine until the mismatched dubbed track takes over, Zoa Morani™s confidence is remarkable in a first film but she is undone by the writing. It™s only Ali Zafar who really stands out and tries to rise above the mediocrity.It™s hard to make any kind of connection with Always Kabhi Kabhi, no matter if you™re a teenager or the parent of one, let alone everyone else.

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